Albania (B), Algeria, Andorra (B), Armenia (B), Austria (B), Azerbaijan (B), Belarus (B), Belgium (B), Bosnia and Herzegovina (B), Bulgaria (B), Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B), Cyprus, Czech Republic (B), Denmark (B) (P), Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia (B), Finland (B), France (B), Gabon, Georgia (B), Germany (B) (P), Ghana, Greece (B) (P), Guinea, Hungary (B), Iran [Islamic Republic of], Iraq (P), Ireland (B), Israel, Italy (B) (P), Jordan (P), Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan (P), Latvia (B), Lebanon, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein (B), Lithuania (B), Luxembourg (B), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B), Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Moldova [Republic of] (B), Montenegro (B), Morocco, Netherlands Antilles (B), Nigeria, Norway (B), Oman, Poland (B), Qatar, Romania (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B), Saudi Arabia, Serbia (B), Sierra Leone, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B), Slovenia (B), Somalia, Spain (B), Sudan, Sweden (B), Switzerland (B), Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (B), Uganda, Ukraine (B) (P), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (B), USA, Yemen.
Vagrant to Afghanistan, Bahrain, Benin, China (mainland), Comoros, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Gambia, Gibraltar, Iceland, Japan, Niger, Portugal, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Syrian Arab Republic.
Breeds from western Norway, British Is and western and southern France east to south-central Siberia and south through Italy, extreme northern Greece, south-western and central Ukraine and north-eastern Kazakhstan; also disjunctly in Crimea and north-western Caucasus. Non-breeding Africa from Sierra Leone and southern Guinea east to southern Sudan, northern DRCongo, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and southern Somalia.
 
Population
Estimated population is 45,000,000 - 90,000,000 (2010).
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7